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The results of a consultation into high street closures in Swale are in after the year-long controversial car bans trialled under Covid were lifted.
The pedestrianisation schemes in Sheerness and Sittingbourne - introduced last June in a bid to help with social distancing - were axed when the remaining restrictions were eased in July.
Their introduction caused uproar among business owners and were unpopular with many elderly and disabled shoppers who found it difficult to access the shops. Shopkeepers in Sheerness even staged weekly protests against the bans, saying they were killing trade.
Now, six weeks after they were lifted, the results of the public consultation into the closures have been published ahead of Swale council’s next Swale Joint Transportation Board meeting on Monday.
The consultation was carried out as a posted, online and on-street survey between May 21 and June 14 to gauge views on the implementation of permanentroad closures.
The Sheerness consultation had the highest number of responses, with 810 people taking part. A total of 41% were in favour of the scheme, compared to 58% against.
In Sittingbourne, 59% of the 323 people who responded were against the road closures, compared to 39% who were in favour.
Key reasons raised in support of the bans included that the high streets were “safer” and “a more pleasant environment” due to no traffic and more space.
Reasons against included the impact on businesses, that they reduced accessibility and were a “general inconvenience”.
A statement on the findings in the agenda said: “There are clear themes and key responses captured within the informal consultation analysis within Sittingbourne and Sheerness that Swale council will now focus upon to introduce improvements to the town centres.”
Meanwhile in Faversham, 51% of people were in support of the closure and 46% were against, out of 468 responses.
Swale council is now proposing to make only Faversham’s car ban a permanent fixture.
A council spokesman said: “Last year, we closed our high streets to traffic to give people the opportunity to shop safely with more space following the nationwide lockdowns.
“We have since asked people for their views on the temporary closures to help us understand if a more permanent solution would be suitable.
“We asked people to outline the positive and negative outcomes of the pedestrianisation, possible timings of traffic restrictions, and the extent of the closures for Sheerness, Sittingbourne and Faversham.
“We received 1,601 responses that highlighted positive impacts including a safer environment with less traffic and more space, and an encouragement to walk or cycle more, and negative impacts including loss of business and footfall, and accessibility."
He added: "In the local plan, we’ve outlined the infrastructure needed to support more active travel in Faversham and, following the support of 51 per cent of respondents, have recommended that pedestrianisation of Faversham high street be considered. The survey responses will be reviewed at the next Swale Joint Transportation Board meeting on September 6.”
